The rumour mill insisted that an A-list celebrity has HIV and that celebrity turned out to be Charlie Sheen. The Two And A Half Men actor admitted in an interview with TODAY that he has had the virus for the past four years.
"It's a hard three letters to absorb. It's a turning point in one's life," said the 50 year-old who was at one point the highest grossing TV star.
Sheen appeared alongside his doctor to clarify that though he has HIV, he does not have AIDS, which occurs when the virus suppresses the immune system. It was an important moment not just in terms of celebrity gossip, but in social education.
Though AIDS and HIV have been around for decades, Sheen's appearance served to crystallize the fact that much misunderstanding still surrounds the virus.
Sheen is healthy, though he must take pills every single day to remain so. The odds of him passing on the virus are not "impossible" as Sheen claims, but more like negligible, as his doctor asserts.
Incredibly, some people have still had unprotected sex with Sheen after learning that he has the virus, and now these people are also monitored by his own doctor. Having unprotected sex without disclosure is actually illegal in many U.S. states.
Let's be real. Sheen is not a superhero. He came forward because he was being extorted and blackmailed and has been for years - to the tune of $10m by his estimate - and he didn't want to keep paying out. He claimed his financial situation wasn't great, and the money was coming out of his kids' inheritance.
He's not a hero, but he's not a demon, either. In revealing that he has HIV, Sheen has opened himself up to all kinds of moral judgment from the ignorant masses.
By Sheen's own admission, he's no saint. He's a hedonist, who has been wildly promiscuous and continues to struggle with drink and drugs.
Did he deserve to get HIV? Absolutely not. No one does.
Does he deserve accolades and admiration? Not really.
My only hope is that his admission will make people revisit all those assumptions about AIDS and HIV we thought we left behind in the 1990s.
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